Wednesday, January 6, 2010

It is tough to keep a 2 year old occupied long enough to work on cookies. I need some sort of giant hamster-ball for her to run around in when I need a few minutes to work. Anyway, this batch of science cookies are gingerbread men (or women, I didn't check) decked out in microbiology containment suits. These cookies laugh in the face of ebola and crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever! They are ready for any microbe or virus you might throw at them, just don't sniff the insides of their suits.

These are made with Martha Stewart's gingerbread cutout dough, the recipe can be found here (LINK) and my standard royal icing found here (LINK).

The cookies are tinted with three Americolor gels: Navy Blue, Gold and Super Black.

Big Cookies!

It takes a lot of baking to use up this hefty batch of gingerbread dough.

Eh... Why are those eggs are sitting there?

Cooling before suiting up

Piping my outlines before flooding.

My hands look slightly less rubbery without latex gloves on.

Doing the background flood work

Completed containment suit cookies! Okay, the knees look a little wonky. Trying to ice cookies after a 3rd cup of coffee wasn't such a hot idea.

I hear you about the 2 year old, but don't put her in the hamster ball quite yet (wait until she's fourteen). Right now is a time you can never recover, and you can always make cookies after bedtime if it's too much work to be a mom and a blogger at the same time. I hope that you will be able to put a step-stool at the other end of the counter and give her cookies to decorate too, one at a time. I started my two-year-old in Seattle with this sort of thing, and it reaaaaalllllly pays off when they get older. She could open a pre-cracked egg "like a book, Mama!" into a bowl for me at 2. Made things from scratch at 8 reading recipes unassisted. Cooked dinners at 10. Now teaching her little girl. GO for it with your kiddo! I want to see some of her work on these pages!

The little humble likes to roll out playdough with her rolling pin and cutters at the counter with me. Unfortunately there isn't a kid-safe version of royal icing and that is what she really wants (and goes for). I've given it to her, but she is a terror with it. A cement hardened, crusty terror.

She will learn to cook, of course. After all, someone needs to take over all this work for me. I should post photos of the 'help' she provided for my circuit board cookies.

Oh my god...Those are amazing (as is everything else you're doing!)New fan, and just wanted to let you know to keep up the amazing work!(PLus I have no idea how you're able to do that with a child around.... truly inspiring!)

Regaurding the 2 yr old, I suggest Sprout! My kid has been addicted to this channel for about a year and its educational. I hate using the t.v. as a "babysitter" but when you need just 30 min for a shower or mommy time, it helps.

If only it was that easy! My daughter seems to be immune to the TV's pull. The only thing that keeps her occupied for more than 5 minutes at this age are pens. Real pens. And I've already learned what happens when she finds one of those and runs off unsupervised.

Not a spacesuit, though it does look a little like NASA flight suits. This suit protects the wearer from pathogens and makes them look extremely attractive. Few can resist the big puffy blue moon-man/woman look.

his eyes are rolled up cus of how annoyed he is at all the procedures it takes just to get into it and then he has to do his job while wearing an itchy an hot sterile suit, especially when the hood falls on his eyes when he're just trying to get the gas chromatography to start ;)